Isaac Success

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Isaac Success
Personal information
Full name Isaac Success Ajayi [1]
Date of birth (1996-01-07) 7 January 1996 (age 29) [2]
Place of birth Benin City, Nigeria
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) [2]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
BJ Foundation
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2014–2015 Granada B 20 (9)
2014–2016 Granada 49 (7)
2016–2021 Watford 64 (3)
2018Málaga (loan) 9 (0)
2021–2024 Udinese 79 (4)
2024–2025 Al Wasl 0 (0)
International career
2013 Nigeria U17 7 (7)
2015–2016 Nigeria U20 4 (2)
2017– Nigeria 4 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 24 August 2024
‡ National team caps and goals as of 17 August 2022

Isaac Success Ajayi (born 7 January 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward.

Contents

Club career

Success was born in Benin City. He started his career with local side BJ Foundation Academy appearing regularly for the side. [3]

In November 2013 Success agreed to a five-year deal with Udinese, starting January 2014, [4] for a 400,000 fee. [5] However, he was only granted a work permit in March of the following year, [6] and immediately joined Granada CF, being assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B. [7]

On 31 August 2014, Success made his first-team debut, starting in a 1–1 away draw against Elche CF at the age of 18 years and seven months, [8] being their youngest player ever to appear in a La Liga match. [9] He scored his first professional goal on 7 December, netting his side's only of a home draw against Valencia CF, for the same scoreline. [10] On 7 August 2015, Success extended his link with the club, signing until 2019 and being permanently promoted to the main squad. [11]

On 1 July 2016, Success agreed a five-year deal with Watford in a record transfer fee, estimated around £12.5 million from Granada. [12] He scored once in 19 appearances in the 2016–17 season and, after just one appearance in 2017–18 was loaned to Malaga on 31 January 2018. [13]

On 26 August 2021, Success signed for Italian club Udinese on a three-year deal. [14] [15]

On 27 August 2024, his contract with Udinese was terminated by mutual consent. [16]

International career

In 2013 Success was called up to Nigeria under-17's for the year's FIFA U-17 World Cup, being also named vice-captain. He appeared in the first two games, but was sidelined during the rest of the tournament due to an injury. [17] Success got his first call up to the senior Nigeria side for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Zambia in October 2016. [18] On 23 March 2017, Success made his debut for Nigeria, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw against Senegal at The Hive Stadium in London. [19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 19 May 2024 [20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Granada B 2013–14 Segunda División B 5353
2014–15 156156
Total209209
Granada 2014–15 [21] La Liga 19140231
2015–16 [22] 30630336
Total49770567
Watford 2016–17 [23] Premier League 1910000191
2017–18 [24] 00001010
2018–19 [25] 3013122354
2019–20 [26] 50101070
2020–21 [27] Championship 1010000101
Total6434142726
Málaga (loan) 2017–18 La Liga900090
Udinese 2021–22 [28] Serie A 22221243
2022–23 [29] 30121322
2023–24 [30] 27100271
Total79442836
Career total22023153420023928

Honours

Watford

References

  1. "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Isaac Success". Premier League. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  3. Eaglets Striker Close To Udinese Deal Archived 29 August 2014 at archive.today ; Complete Sports Nigeria, 10 June 2013
  4. Isaac Success Confirms He Will Join Udinese In January; All Nigeria Soccer, 12 November 2013
  5. Isaac Success, la nuova scommessa dell'Udinese (Isaac Success, Udinese's new bet); Tutto Udinese, 26 May 2013 (in Italian)
  6. Isaac Success gets work permit today; The Nation Online, 14 March 2014
  7. Success Isaac y Uche Agbo: nuevos jugadores del Granada CF (Success Isaac and Uche Agbo: new player of Granada CF) Archived 3 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine ; Granada's official website, 18 March 2014 (in Spanish)
  8. Elche snatch last-gasp equalsier; ESPN FC, 31 August 2014
  9. Success, jugador más joven en debutar en Primera con el Granada (Success, the youngest player to debut in Primera with Granada); Marca, 1 September 2014 (in Spanish)
  10. Granada 1–1 Valencia; ESPN FC, 7 December 2014
  11. Isaac Success un año más de contrato (Isaac Success one more year of contract) [ permanent dead link ]; Granada's official website, 7 August 2015 (in Spanish)
  12. "Official: Isaac Success joins Watford FC". Watford F.C. Club Journalist. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  13. "Watford: Isaac Success joins Malaga on loan". BBC Sport. 31 January 2018.
  14. "Official: Udinese Switch For Success". Watford FC. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  15. "Success è un nuovo giocatore dell'Udinese" (in Italian). Udinese Calcio. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  16. "Club statement: Isaac Success". Udinese. 27 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  17. Isaac Success fit for U-17 World Cup final; Goal.com, 8 November 2013
  18. "Mikel Obi, Musa, Ikeme 20 others To battle Zambia". thenff.com. 22 September 2016. Archived from the original on 27 January 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  19. "Nigeria 1 Senegal 1: Iheanacho earns a draw for Super Eagles". Goal. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  20. "I. Success". Soccerway. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  21. "Games played by Isaac Success in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  22. "Games played by Isaac Success in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  23. "Games played by Isaac Success in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  24. "Games played by Isaac Success in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  25. "Games played by Isaac Success in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  26. "Games played by Isaac Success in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  27. "Games played by Isaac Success in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  28. "Games played by Isaac Success in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  29. "Games played by Isaac Success in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  30. "Games played by Isaac Success in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  31. McNulty, Phil (18 May 2019). "Manchester City 6–0 Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.